As filmmaker Josh Freed’s entertaining new documentary The Trouble with Experts, reminds us, we are all addicted to experts.
They tell us what to eat, how to vote, raise our kids, fix our homes, buy our wines, interpret political events and, until recently, choose the right stocks.
They’re all over the media telling us what to think, because there’s just too much information for us to sort out ourselves. So we often cede our own opinions to them because, well… they’re experts, so they know better than us. Or do they?
In the recent stock meltdown, we discovered that some of our most important experts – our financial gurus – didn’t know much at all.
So what about all the other experts out there? Does having expertise actually mean you make better decisions than regular people? Or are they just part of a new cult of expertise, an ever-growing expert industry that’s become our latest new religion?
I’m an open minded person. I am open to new ideas and evaluate them thoroughly, regardless of how ridiculous they may initially appear slope game. After conducting some study, I will always choose to make the decision on my own.
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Black is white, white is black, when you experience it, then it’s a fact! If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself; that is of course only if you really know what you are talking about or doing. Excellent documentary to remind people to research things for themselves. If you don’t have the time, then you better make time. Here is a little trick of logic for everyone.
Ever wonder why a man can beat a supercomputer in a game of chess. It is known as the ‘intentional stance’. Once you know what motivates someone, it is quite easy to predict their responses and actions. Since a computer is programmed to win, it doesn’t understand strategies like a draw or stalemate. Kasparov would play a completely defensive game, and even though the computer can think 100,000 moves in advance of every move, by trying purely to win, it would leave itself open to attack. This is what those in positions of power and influence know about the average person; basically how they will react because they have done the experiments, documented the statistics and crunched the data. This is precisely why everyone keeps getting burned financially, and comes back for more, because greed blinds them to the fact that the game is rigged in favor of those who control it. If everyone was aware of this, and monitored it with endless vigilance, politicians, governments, and the corporate world would have to operate above board because they could never get away with it. Since the general public has been brainwashed not to think, and to trust others with their hard earned money, is precisely why history continuously repeats itself. (something for everyone to consider)
Best wishes to everyone, and live long and prosper.
This was an excellent documentary. I have known people in many different fields who claimed to be experts. Problem is they could not answer any of my questions.
Anyone who takes the word of others as the complete truth is an imbecile. Including the word of those labelled as “experts”.
I’m an open minded person. I take in and analyze all ideas regardless of how absurd they might seem. I always make the decision myself after doing my research. This is something that I feel is dying out in today’s America. People are unable to think for themselves and be open minded to differing ideas.
“Wait! I saw it on NBC. They said it was true! It’s true, you are wrong.”
Good stuff. Entertaining and educational. CBC is good use of public funds.
Although there is entirely too much “air” puffed into this already rather short piece, there are some key bits of information that are very valuable and interesting, and it is definitely worth a view.
Um. Someone is not an expert if they are wrong. This documentary is more about supporting the Cult of Me – where your modern psychology tells you that you dont need anyone else to tell you what to do, or which imaginary god to believe in.